Intentions to Marry, 1902 South Island

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840422, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke and Carole at Archives NZ Wellington, October 3 and October 8, 2025.

1902 is bound in two volumes, North Island districts and South Island districts.

Page 255

District of Christchurch Quarter ending 31 March 1902 Registrar L. C. Gilliam

Date of Notice

Names and Surnames of Parties

BDM Match

Condition

Calling or Profession

Age

Dwelling Place

Length of Residence

Marriage Place

Folio

Consent

Date of Certificate

Officiating Minister

6 January 1902

John Edwards Abraham
Anne Elizabeth Brewer

John Edward Abraham
Annie Elizabeth Brewer
💍 1902/1088

Bachelor
Spinster

Bootmaker

28
28

Christchurch
Christchurch

26 years
25 years

St Marys Church, Addington

02/977

6 January 1902

Rev. W. S. Bean

No	8
Date of Notice	6 January 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Edwards Abraham	Anne Elizabeth Brewer
BDM Match (95%)	John Edward Abraham	Annie Elizabeth Brewer
	💍 1902/1088
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Bootmaker
Age	28	28
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	26 years	25 years
Marriage Place	St Marys Church, Addington
Folio	02/977
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 January 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. S. Bean

6 January 1902

Edward Cooke
Emily Ellis

Edward Cooke
Emily Ellis
💍 1902/959

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

23
23

Christchurch
Christchurch

7 years
10 years

Registrar's Office, Christchurch

02/950

6 January 1902

Deputy Registrar

No	9
Date of Notice	6 January 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Edward Cooke	Emily Ellis
	💍 1902/959
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	23	23
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	7 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Registrar's Office, Christchurch
Folio	02/950
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 January 1902
Officiating Minister	Deputy Registrar

6 January 1902

John Nickey
Christina McEwen

John Hickey
Christina McEwen
💍 1902/847

Bachelor
Spinster

Plasterer
Machinist

32
20

Sydenham
Sydenham

11 years
20 years

Residence of John McEwen, Albermarle St, Sydenham

02/1056

John McEwen, Father

6 January 1902

Rev. J. F. O'Donnell

No	10
Date of Notice	6 January 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	John Nickey	Christina McEwen
BDM Match (95%)	John Hickey	Christina McEwen
	💍 1902/847
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Plasterer	Machinist
Age	32	20
Dwelling Place	Sydenham	Sydenham
Length of Residence	11 years	20 years
Marriage Place	Residence of John McEwen, Albermarle St, Sydenham
Folio	02/1056
Consent	John McEwen, Father
Date of Certificate	6 January 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. F. O'Donnell

7 January 1902

Albert Edward Costall
Alice Ada Carter

Albert Edward Costall
Alice Ada Carter
💍 1902/1079

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Teacher

39
30

Christchurch
Christchurch

3 days
3 days

St Matthews Church

02/991

7 January 1902

Rev. H. Williams, Anglican

No	11
Date of Notice	7 January 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Albert Edward Costall	Alice Ada Carter
	💍 1902/1079
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Teacher
Age	39	30
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	3 days	3 days
Marriage Place	St Matthews Church
Folio	02/991
Consent
Date of Certificate	7 January 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Williams, Anglican

8 January 1902

George Cousins
Emily Broad

George Cousins
Emily Brand
💍 1902/869

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

28
32

Christchurch
Christchurch

18 years
12 years

Residence of Thomas Chivers, Buckeye Rd, Linwood

02/1079

8 January 1902

R. C. H. Laws

No	12
Date of Notice	8 January 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Cousins	Emily Broad
BDM Match (91%)	George Cousins	Emily Brand
	💍 1902/869
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	28	32
Dwelling Place	Christchurch	Christchurch
Length of Residence	18 years	12 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Thomas Chivers, Buckeye Rd, Linwood
Folio	02/1079
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 January 1902
Officiating Minister	R. C. H. Laws

8 January 1902

Ellis Davis
Louisa Millicent Smith

Ellis Davis
Louisa Millicent Smith
💍 1902/1078

Bachelor
Spinster

Blindmaker
Dressmaker

21
19

St Albans
St Albans

6 Years
9 Years

St Matthews Church

02/990

William Willson, father

8 January 1902

Rev. H. Williams

No	13
Date of Notice	8 January 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Ellis Davis	Louisa Millicent Smith
	💍 1902/1078
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Blindmaker	Dressmaker
Age	21	19
Dwelling Place	St Albans	St Albans
Length of Residence	6 Years	9 Years
Marriage Place	St Matthews Church
Folio	02/990
Consent	William Willson, father
Date of Certificate	8 January 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. H. Williams

8 January 1902

William Thomas Lake
Mary Donnell

William Thomas Lake
Mary Donnell
💍 1902/346

Bachelor
Spinster

Commercial Traveller
Tailoress

24
22

Linwood
Marshlands

2 Years
10 Years

Wesleyan Methodist Church

02/1070

8 January 1902

Rev. J. A. Chard

No	14
Date of Notice	8 January 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Thomas Lake	Mary Donnell
	💍 1902/346
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Commercial Traveller	Tailoress
Age	24	22
Dwelling Place	Linwood	Marshlands
Length of Residence	2 Years	10 Years
Marriage Place	Wesleyan Methodist Church
Folio	02/1070
Consent
Date of Certificate	8 January 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. J. A. Chard

10 January 1902

William Sansom
Lucy Willis

William Sanson
Lucy Willis
💍 1902/870

Widower
Widow

Farmer
Saleswoman

57
47

Southbrook
Christchurch

44 years
27 years

Residence of Mrs Willis, Metapua, Rest Belt, Christchurch, Rangiora

02/1080

10 January 1902

Rev. C. H. Laws

No	15
Date of Notice	10 January 1902
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Sansom	Lucy Willis
BDM Match (96%)	William Sanson	Lucy Willis
	💍 1902/870
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Farmer	Saleswoman
Age	57	47
Dwelling Place	Southbrook	Christchurch
Length of Residence	44 years	27 years
Marriage Place	Residence of Mrs Willis, Metapua, Rest Belt, Christchurch, Rangiora
Folio	02/1080
Consent
Date of Certificate	10 January 1902
Officiating Minister	Rev. C. H. Laws

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

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What is an Intention to Marry?

The 1854 Marriage Act required Pakeha settlers (and later Maori) to register their intention to marry from 1855. The resulting Notices of intention to marry were sent by the district registrars to the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages and bound into large volumes, each containing a year of notices. These registers were eventually deposited with Archives New Zealand.

What information does an ItM record?

A typical Intention to Marry notice records:

the bride and groom's full names
occupation of the groom (and sometimes the bride)
their ages
district where the marriage would take place
how long they had resided in the district
Where the marriage would take place (eg, a specific church)
Who would officiate the marriage (eg, a minister)
The date of the notice and also a date when the certificate was issued. Marriages had to take place within 3 months, and usually occurred within a week or so of the certificate date.
If one of the parties was under 21, a parent who consented to their marriage was usually specified

These details can provide clues for genealogical and historical research. Knowing the date and district makes it easier to look for wedding notices in Papers Past, and the amount of time that the parties had resided in a district can offer clues to whether a person was born in NZ, or when they immigrated.

However, finding individual records in the Intentions to Marry registers was typically a slow and manual process, usually requiring an in-person visit to Archives NZ's Wellington office (during limited opening hours) and using a handwritten card catalogue index to look up individual names.

Eight years of the registers had been digitised by Archives NZ prior to 2024, but even these digital versions required the use of a manual index and usually examining several pages to locate specific records.

What is the Intentions to Marry Project?

This project aims to transcribe the New Zealand Intentions to Marry registers (from 1855 to 1925) with the assistance of new technology (AI), making the records freely available and easily searchable.

The ITM records have also been cross-referenced with the registered marriages at DIA Births, Deaths and Marriages, where possible (a small fraction of the recorded intentions to marry did not become a registered marriage).

Currently we have almost all records between 1855 and 1903. More registers are being added almost every week.

The project is led by Luke Howison, a web developer who made the free genealogical research search tool NZ Ancestor Search Helper and Archway-style Collections Search. There are also some wonderful volunteers assisting with digitising the registers.

Can I volunteer to help?

Yes, you can! You can sign up to correct errors in the transcribed records and match ITMs with registered marriages.

I am also looking for Wellington-based volunteers to help me digitise more years of the registers. I can provide lighting equipment and a 'clicker' (to trigger your phone's camera).

How is the transcription done?

There are several steps to digitising and transcribing the records:

Digitising the registers (taking clean, straight, high-quality photos)
Processing the digitised pages by straightening, cropping and sharpening the images
Transcribing each page with a combination of AI tools
Matching each ITM with a registered marriage when possible
Human verification of the transcribed information

The main LLM (AI) used are the Google Gemini Pro and Flash models, which have excellent 'Vision' capabilities, and a generous free tier.

Archives NZ has released the register years they have digitised (1865-69, 1872, 1874 and 1880) under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license.

The Intention to Marry registers (up to 1925) are more than 100 years old, so their Crown Copyright has expired, putting them in the public domain. This also applies to any 'mechanical reproductions' (eg, pictures or photocopies) of their content without substantial alteration.

The transcribed records on this website are released under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal license, which allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, even for commercial purposes, while giving credit to the creator (NZ Intentions to Marry Project).